SAN JOSE — The Sharks will have to wait a couple more days to punch their ticket to the postseason.

Feeling the effects of three games in four nights, the Sharks didn’t have much left in reserve after the first period and lost 4-2 to the Florida Panthers at SAP Center. It was just the sixth regulation time loss at home for the Sharks this season, and their first since a 5-1 defeat to Washington on Feb. 14.

The loss kept the Sharks at 94 points, one point ahead of the Calgary Flames for first place in the Pacific Division.

San Jose could have clinched a playoff spot had it won Thursday after Minnesota, which has 74 points and is three points back of Arizona for the Western Conference’s second wild card spot, lost to Dallas 4-1 earlier Thursday.

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It any case, it won’t be long before the Sharks clinch their 13th postseason berth in 14 years. With 11 games left before the playoffs begin, it’s just a matter of where they’ll finish.

Takeaways from Thursday night:

1. Fatigue clearly an issue: Although the Sharks, generally speaking, liked their post all-star break schedule, there were going to be some rough patches. This mid-March stretch was one of them, as Thursday’s game was their fifth in eight days.

The Sharks played well — often exceptionally well — in that time, starting with a 5-2 win over Montreal on March 7. They outlasted a tough St. Louis team 3-2 on March 9, and had just beaten Minnesota 3-0 on Monday and Central Division-leading Winnipeg 5-4 on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Sharks scored twice in the first period on eight shots, but managed just six shots in the second period.

“We just have to get our energy back. I thought it hit us tonight,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “Five games in eight nights and back and forth across to Minnesota and Winnipeg and back, I think it caught up to us a little bit.”

It wasn’t so much that their 5-on-5 play was poor, it was that after trying to kill four penalties in the first 40 minutes, they couldn’t sustain any momentum. All 12 of the Sharks’ third period shots were stopped by Panthers goalie Sam Montembeault, as their six-game win streak came to an end.

“We didn’t help ourselves. Took too many penalties,” DeBoer said. “But that’s usually the result of reaching because our legs aren’t moving enough. It’s just one of those nights. We found a way a lot of times this year to win these kinds of games, but tonight wasn’t one of those nights.”

The Sharks have back-to-back games two more times this season, and one more stretch from March 28 to April 2 where they play four games in six days. Even then, though, the first three games are at home, including games against Vegas on March 30 and Calgary the following night.

“We had a decent start. It was just certain areas,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “It was just commitment to work through a few things. It wasn’t there for the full game tonight, so that’s on us as players.”

2. Mike Hoffman said he wants the banner: During the game, a group of fans, known on social media as the Teal City Crew, hung a large banner from near the top of the upper bowl of SAP Center that had Hoffman’s name, his number (68) and the amount of time the forward spent as a member of the Sharks.

Which was only a few hours, as the Sharks acquired Hoffman from the Ottawa Senators on June 19, 2018, only to deal him a short time later to Florida for draft picks.

“I saw that. I appreciate the respect for the fans there,” Hoffman said. “I’ll try to reach out and contact the fan to get that from him.”

Less humorous for the Sharks and their fans was Hoffman’s play, as he scored the game-winner on the power play with 1:11 left in the second period an assisted on Frank Valtrano’s insurance goal at the 8:17 mark of the third.

The power play that resulted in Hoffman’s goal came after the Sharks were called for too many men with 1:34 to go in the second period. It was the fourth penalty San Jose was assessed in 40 minutes.

“They’ve got a good power play. They made us pay,” said center Logan Couture, who took a tripping penalty 18 seconds into the first period and a double-minor for high-sticking at the 10:54 mark of the second.

“We were sloppy. Penalties, turnovers, everything.”

Sharks defenseman Joakim Ryan (47) controls the puck against Florida Panthers’ Dryden Hunt (73) in the first period of Thursday’s game at SAP Center in San Jose. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

3. Joakim Ryan gets his chance: Thrust into the lineup following Radim Simek’s knee injury, Ryan was no doubt noticeable in his first game back since Jan. 22. He had seven shot attempts and registered two hits in 14:46 of ice time, almost all of which came at even strength.

Ryan has tried to make good use of the time he’s been out of the lineup, not only from a physical standpoint, but from a mental one, as well.

“I always watch the d-men and see how they playing, and how you pick up on what’s been making them successful,” Ryan said Thursday morning. “That’s been shutting down teams, starting right out of the o-zone, having good gap and just stopping them before they get anything going. Jumping hard to check in the d-zone, making sure the first guy’s getting the man off the puck, second guy comes in, picks it up and heads the other way.

“You pick up on certain things here and there and just try to make sure that when you get your opportunity like this, you go in and do the same things that everybody else has been doing.”

Ryan did the things that DeBoer wants to see him do: He used his feet, he was aggressive when he needed to be and he played the body on occasion. In short, it was a good first step for a player who will have to carry his weight for as long as Erik Karlsson remains out with a groin injury.

“I thought he did a good job,” DeBoer said. “For sitting there, he was moving his feet, he was jumping into the play. He ended some plays physically.”

4. Thinking of a teammate: Evander Kane came forward with heartbreaking personal news earlier Thursday when he announced that the child, a girl, Eva, that his wife had been carrying passed away at 26 weeks.

“You feel for him and his wife and their family, and it is a tragic event,” DeBoer said. “There’s no real words for it. You just try and surround him and help him, support him and be there for him. I think our group’s pretty good that way.”